A shot at some BIG BUCK$!

Hey, we have a legitimate chance to win $10,000 in a national contest. Tom’s of Maine is a kind of hippie consumer products company that spends a lot of their marketing budget on doing good things (they actually have an employee with the title “goodness programs manager”). They are giving away $10,000 to 15 non-profit organizations based on a vote on Facebook.

I nominated Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership since gregg’s gardens was not eligible because it is not a 501(c)3 corp. TNP is already gg’s fiscal agent and will put any winnings towards our joint efforts (along with the Trumbull 100) to create the Garden District in Warren. All you have to do is click here, then click on Ohio on the map, then vote for TNP.

Here is some background and answers to some questions you might have. Tom’s received over 1000 nominations and TNP was selected as the only entry for the state of Ohio. You can vote for TNP one time per day for each of the next 30 days. Voting ends on October 15th and the 15 highest vote-getters will each receive $10,000. But you can only vote on Facebook. If you don’t have a Facebook account you will have to sign-up for one to vote.

We can win, but only with your help. We’re at a disadvantage to non-profits located in bigger markets, but the vote-every-day rule gives us a real shot to compete with the big city boys if we can enlist a large enough, hard-core, group to vote every day. Many of you have supported either gregg’s gardens, TNP or the Garden District project already, but many of you maybe weren’t able to write a big check, or take time away from work or family obligations to help. This is your chance! Just write one of those little sticky notes and post it on your computer and vote every day!

Some of you may have reservations about sharing information about yourself on Facebook with a marketer, or perhaps you distrust Tom’s motives. Here is a quote from an email I received from them asking about their policies:

“Our custom Facebook application for 50 States for Good voting is specially created for this program only. It asks voters for the most basic level of information and permissions. In fact, it asks for just two things – your log in identification and the option to share socially. The log in helps us verify that the voter is a valid Facebook user so there is no fraudulent voting, as a single vote per day is tied to a Facebook user name. The social sharing is merely an option that is allowed, though we hope many will use it to share the good news. The user retains control over the option to share. Tom’s of Maine will not store or use any information for purposes other than voting and no information will be used for marketing purposes as we greatly respect personal privacy.”

As for their motives, I assume it is to sell more of their stuff, but that’s fine with me. They make natural products that are easy to recycle, and they use their marketing budget to make communities better places to live rather than underwriting the lifestyle of some phoney celebrity endorser. They are trying to be good guys. You can read their press release on the program here.